Be Wise—Live Within Your Means

They are a young happily married couple, as yet without children and living in one of the nicer sections of New York city. They bought a house, as they thought that paying off a mortgage made more sense than paying rent. Obviously they needed furniture, and they also obtained an auto, both of which were purchased on the installment plan. And then they let themselves be coaxed into buying a large stereophonic set with record player, radio and TV. Although both of them were working and the husband was holding downtwojobs, they were unable to keep up their payments.

They turned to a good friend for counsel and were shown how they could retrench so as tolive within their means. This they readily resolved to do. And not just because of theirfinancial problemsbut also other personal obligations.

More and more families are overburdening themselves as this couple did. Thus in the United States in the past twenty years personal bankruptcies have just about doubled. While a few of these cases doubtless were due to “time and unforeseen occurrence” (such as illness, accident or unemployment), by far the greater number, we are told, were due to“binges of buying on credit.”As one bankruptcy referee put it: “The growth in the use of consumer credit is behind it all. Merchants and lenders have been pushing credit on people, competing strongly for the credit business.”U.S.News&WorldReport.

Causing people to buy beyond their means are such slogans as “Fly now—pay later.” But a better slogan is, “Save now—fly later.” Yes, this is good advice. Buying for cash is the most economical way to purchase things, as then you do not have to pay high interest rates, which often are as high as 18 percent a year.

What causes families to fall victim to high-pressure salesmen? One factor often is the desire to “keep up with the Joneses.” If a man’s neighbors buy a new auto or an outdoor swimming pool, then must he also acquire these things? He may think so. But such a course can be folly, if perhaps his neighbors can afford these things but he cannot. Then again, just because his neighbors make the mistake of living beyond their means is no reason for him to do so, is it?

The problem may be status symbols. Many a family has burdened itself with heavy installment payments because of having bought a fine auto simply because it gave them status in the community. But if one cannot afford it, is not the status symbol a false front? Or it might be a TV set. Thus it is reported that a teacher at a private school once heard a youngster say to another, “I can’t play with you because your folks don’t have a TV!” Imagine it! But where did this child get such a notion? Doubtless from his parents.

Of course, there is also the hedonistic or pleasure principle to consider. No question about there being pleasure in owning fine things, the pride of possession apart from what others may think. There is also a great deal of enjoyment in eating fine food, which pleasure causes not a few to live beyond their means.

All these causes and others that might be cited call to mind the words of wise King Solomon: “Everything [is] vanity and a striving after wind.” Vanity? হাঁ, because the added pleasures do not compensate for the added concerns, cares, worries, anxieties.

So learn to be objective, to be governed by reason, not by mere inclination, feeling or sentiment. Learn to distinguish between the things you really need and the luxuries you may want but can do without. Do not get started to feel and coddle the desire for luxury, for in just a short time luxuries have a way of mentally becoming “necessities.” It all goes back to inherited human weakness, our inclinations from youth up being toward selfishness and needing to be redirected.

In this matter as in every other problem of living the Bible offers good counsel. It warns that a materialistic pursuit is the root of all sorts of injurious things. It also counsels contentment, saying, “We have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. সুতরাং, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things.” The apostle Paul not only preached contentment to his friend Timothy, but also practiced it. He set a fine example, being able to write: “I have learned, in whatevercircumstancesI am, to be self-sufficient. I know indeed how to be low on provisions, I know indeed how to have an abundance.”